Book Review: Shatter Me – Tahereh Mafi

I have a curse.I have a gift.I’m a monster.I’m more than human.My touch is lethal.My touch is power.I am their weapon.I will fight back.
No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she’s finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time – and to find a future with the one boy she thought she’d lost forever.
In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a riveting dystopian world, a thrilling superhero story, and an unforgettable heroine.

First Sentence: I’ve been locked up for 264 days.

My Review:

I have very mixed feelings about Shatter Me. There were a lot of things I liked about Shatter Me, but on the other hand, there were also a lot of things I didn’t like about Shatter Me. Shatter Me is probably one of the hardest books I ever had to rate. In the end, I was crushed between giving it a rating of 3.5 or a rating of 4, and decided on a rating of 3.5 instead because there were too many things that I didn’t like to give Shater Me a rating of 4.

Let me start this review with talking about the old cover and the new revised cover. At first, I liked the old cover a lot better, wondering, why would they change the old cover to something like this? What did a book with the title Shatter Me have in common with an eye? Now, after having the new paperback cover in my hands, I can see why. The little details on the eye is simply beautiful. I love the way the designer used branches of trees without leaves as the eyelashes of the eye and the watery tears as waterfalls. The blue iris (I don’t know if that’s what you call it) is also breathtaking and completely striking.

Now onto the book. When I first heard about Shatter Me, I also heard about the major abuse use of strike-throughs in the book. I thought that I would have absolutely no problem with it – until I actually read Shatter Me. The number of strike-throughs used is astonishing. I get what Tahereh Mafi was trying to do, showing what Juliette’s true feelings and thoughts deep inside of her are, but the amount of times that the strike-throughs appear just gets annoying.

Tahereh Mafi’s writing is unique. I have never seen anything like it before. Her writing is purposely repetitive and contains tons of descriptions that doesn’t truly make sense when you read each sentence individually. This one sentence describes what I mean perfectly: “The sun is high high high, lounging against a backdrop propping up its rays and redirecting its warmth in our general direction.” (page 101) Tahereh Mafi is basically saying that the sun is rising in that long sentence. However, the way she is describing the scene is beautiful and full of feeling, although if you read it carefully, it doesn’t truly make sense.

The one character I have a problem with in Shatter Me is Adam. Ask a teenage girl what qualities she wants in a boyfriend and Adam is exactly that. Is Adam good-looking? Yes. Does Adam protect the heroine? Yes. Does Adam save the heroine? Yes. Does Adam risk everything for her? Yes yes yes. Not to mention the reason he likes and saves Juliette is quite ridiculous. There isn’t much depth to Adam.

In fact, I’m leaning towards liking Warner better. Warner might be an evil freak of nature, but at least he has more depth than the cardboard Adam. However, when Juliette starts describing how attractive and strong Warner is, I was just plain disgusted. This is the guy who made you kill, who abused you and forced himself on you, and you think he’s attractive?! Please. Open up your eyes Juliette.

The last seven or so chapters of Shatter Me is just astonishing. I truly never expected that since it doesn’t match the rest of the book. There are so many ways Tahereh Mafi can go with that idea and I’ll definitely read Unravel Me to see which direction she’ll take with her series. Thank goodness it comes out in less than two weeks from today!

Speak Your Mind

I totally get your struggles with the writing style, and I hear that from a lot of people. But the strikethroughs and bizarre descriptions and imagery fade along the novel, and supposedly decrease even more in the second book, and are completely gone in the third. I thought it was really cool how Tahereh used the prose to show that Juliette was in fact pretty crazy.

But I guess it’s not everyone’s thing. I think it’s really the second book that will shape where the series will go, so I hope people don’t give up on it now.

Wow, I didn’t know that about the second and the third book! Yeah, I agree, it is cool how Tahereh is using the prose this way to show how Juliette changes. If everyone knew what she was trying to do, I think that her books would be even more enjoyable.

Yeah, when I met her, we spent quite a while talking about why exactly she wrote it that way, and while I really understood that when I read it, it doesn’t really translate well to most people. So I’m curious about how the style will change :) I wish it was more well known though, that it’s not that Tahereh was on drugs or something and trying to think of the most verbose imagery in the world just for kicks, haha xD

AHHH I cannot wait to read this book! I can see what you mean about strike throughs… I can get a little annoyed with these too if I see to many. I have heard a lot of good things about this book and it is this cover that caught my attention (: Thank you for sharing your review! I am really excited about the characters. I have heard they are really intriguing.

I kinda agree with you on Adam with that, though I kinda disagree with Warner, after reading Unravel me, my distaste for him completely vanished. You’ll find out how swoon worthy Warner really is (P.S: I was creeped out by Warner too :D)Jules recently posted…Book Review: Wait For You by J. Lynn

Although some parts of the story has similarities with The Hunger Games and Juliette’s character would remind us of X-men’s Rogue, it still managed to stand on its own and standout. Mafi’s writing style is unique. The crossed out words are what she wanted to say, but couldn’t say, the repetition of words, and the countless similes and metaphors. Some may have given negative feedbacks about this, but I the book certainly didn’t disappoint me.Algel recently posted…Release Day: HEREAFTER by Kate Brian

I think almost every dystopian out there has similarities with The Hunger Games. :P
And I don’t read/watch X-Men, so I won’t know about that.
Tahereh Mafi’s writing is so unique! I get why people don’t like it though, especially with the repeating sentences and all the strike-outs, but like you, I enjoyed reading Shatter Me anyways.Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [53]

Hi! nice review!
I have to agree with you, Tahereh’s writing is unique I LOVE IT, and you’re not the only one with a problem with Adam, on book two I got that more marked. My favorite will always be Kenji, that man can always speak his mind up! and be mature and funny at the same time. Have you read Unravel Me? I liked book 2 more than the first one, but I’m a huge fan of Tahereh, I can’t wait for the sequel.

Hi Nayira! And thanks! (:
Eep, if I notice more of Adam’s…superior awesome boyfriend skills in Unravel Me, I’ll probably be VERY mad.
And no, I sadly haven’t read Unravel Me yet. So many books to read and so little time. ):Kelly recently posted…Stacking the Shelves [53]

Omg! Yes. Like, what’s with Adam? At first I found him as major turn-off. I mean, he’s cool and all. Strong. Good-looking. But he’s just so…..good? Idk, I really hate it when boys act like their whole world revolves around this one girl. Juliette deserve all that (And by the way, I love the name choice for the girl main character, it really fits) but I really didn’t think that Adam was the One for her.

I think she wrote it really well. If you read it out loud, the words may seem silly. But the metaphors she used, her unique sense of visualizing things and how she’s able to give emphasis on the small details going on in Juliette’s life….that takes a lot of talent. But Idk, that;s probably just me. I think the strikethroughs were okay, it didn’t really bother. She probably wanted the book to sound more Juliette-ish rather than just telling a story.

Warner, on the other hand….was a very very very interesting character. I like how his feelings for Juliette gradually became so twisted that he ended up being (SPOILER) almost killed. I really really like him. Have you read Destroy Me? ;)

Great review!!! I just assumed that the writing style was Juliette a little crazy- but i can see why when she can kill with a touch and has been locked away for a year i think..This book was the only one i have read so far..I have been holding back on the sequel due to budget limits in all and cant make it to the library,yet..

Shatter Me is one of those books that I want asap. I’ve heard many, many great things about this story and I can’t wait to throw myself in there! I remember earlier this year, Epic Reads was allowing people to read it for free a limited time and I didn’t have a chance to read it until the last day. I didn’t know I would like the book so much and I was kind of mopey that I’d only read up to twenty chapters. But it was like a morsel and now I can’t wait to read the series. I’m think of just waiting until the last book comes out so I can binge read the whole series. That would be awesome! :D

Now I have mixed feelings of reading this book. :\ I have also heard the abuse of strikes and thought it was interesting too, but now I’m not too sure if I want to read Shatter Me or not. Although, just from that one sentence you put from page 107, it seems as if it’s more like poetry in a way. I may hold this book of until next year maybe.Ellen Le recently posted…Update: Where have I been?

I couldn’t even get to the end- Juliette was far too addicted to angst and shallow, and the conflicting datadumps about the world drove me nuts. The strike-through effect was interesting, but Mafi’s incessant and near-constant use of metaphor and simile actually distracted me from the power of Juliette’s self-censoring. Which is a shame, because it could have been awesome. Ah, well.Beth W recently posted…Bag Lady

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Effortlessly Reading sometimes receives ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) from publishers or authors in exchange for honest reviews. Please note that no compensation of any kind has been provided in exchange for a review. Any use and/or duplication of my material without any permission is strictly prohibited.